Dish of the day

My last half day got me trying a new recipie in the kitchen.

You know when you cook something and have a taste at it and still find you need to put in more salt or more sugar or something else is missing to give the dish that ummmppphhhh?

Surprisingly when I tasted this one wihle it was still simmering in the pan, it didn't need any improvements.

I myself was surprised that I got it right the first time.

And it is proven to be excellent by my most fussy eater who finished a portion I think I could not even have managed!

I didn't follow any recipie....so, I can't really tell you how much to put in....

I would presume I had two hands heapful of mince meat.

To this I marinated it with 1 tbsp oyster sauce,

1 and a half tbsp light soya sauce,

2 swirls round the meat (about 1 tbsp I think) dark soya sauce,

some sugar and some cornflour.

I ommitted the pepper becuase of Little C.

I lightly fried some garlic.

Added the mushrooms and black fungus plus its

2nd round 'essence' (water it was soaked in).

Let it boil a bit while I shaped and threw in the meatballs.

Cut up some Japanese tau fu and dumped it in.

Cooked till it was well....cooked!

Dished out for Little C

then added spring onions and some freshly cut chilli.

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The result!

Note : I find meatballs easier for kids. Once it is cooked, I will break the balls while feeding them. I find that cooking mince meat this way is less 'dry' (more tender) compared to cooking it minced. And Little C's tendency to chew it up and spit it out null.

Tis' is the age.....

This is the age of marvelling....

When Christopher wants to "eat mumm mummm" (he doesn't fully grasps that it is the same meaning, these 2 words!)
......pulls me to the cupboard to open it for him
.....looks at the stuff inside
......sometimes even moves some of the tupperwards around so that he can see what is behind them
.....even looks to see if there is anything new
.....and if there is asking me "What's this?"
.....touches all those packets that are familiar to him, asking himself "mummm, mummmm? .....no no no"
......and then moving on to the next one
.......crocks his head when he reaches something
....deciding, contemplating
.......and then declaring "I want this one."

When daddy just pulls in a car flyer stuck on his windscreen
.....and the little one declares he wants a look at it
......puts is up in right order and smoothens the paper
......and 'reads'
......and looks at me with a question in his eyes
.....(and I pretend to understand and answer him)
.....and I tell him "Honda is Yee Ma (my elder sister's) car, this logo is Toyota, kungkung's (my dad) car, this is mummy's car (perodua logo) and this is daddy's car (proton logo)
......and after telling him once, I ask him "Where is Kungkung's car?"
.....and he points to the Toyota logo going "There!" (in a singsong voice)
....and does it correctly for all the other logos and again a few days later

When he sees a cake and candles
.....and pulls me to "Sing"
....and claps his hands as I sing the happy birthday song
....and when I am done, he pretends to blow at the cake and candle picture

When he is crying
.....and I pull out his teddy
...and do a sing and dance with teddy
....and he stops, watches a bit and then laughs
....and comes over and sings and dances with us!

When he hits me (playfully, though it hurts)
.....and I actually cry (or pretend to cry)
.....and he looks at me worried
....and tries hard to change the situation around
.....and when it doesn't work he calls daddy
......and if daddy is not around, he will look at me
......almost crying
.....and stroke my face

And when it is time to eat or just before bedtime or when we are in church or in sundayschool
....and I tell him "Let's pray"
.....he will look at me and then bow his head
.....and close his eyes
.....and put his hands together
.....waits like 2 seconds
.....then looks up at me again to see if I am done! (cheeky smile on his face)
.....and if I am not, tries really hard to remain quiet with his hands together (but usually gets distracted.....)


When I am feeding him his rice
....and he looks into the plate
.....and points to the carrots declaring "I want this!"
......and points to the meat declaring "This...no no no!"
......and asks for "Soup, want soup" sometimes in between
.......and when he is full declares "No more, no more!"

And the way he understands instructions and does it out so quickly the way it should be done when he wants to
.....like when he wanted to play the piano that day
.....and I told him to put away his water bottle and wash his hands
....poof the bottle went shut (normally he will not remember to close it)
.....run to the table and put it there nicely (sometimes he puts it there but it falls coz it is not balanced properly)
....off he went like a little bullet
...took out his stool to climb on
....waited for me to turn on the water and soap his hands
....Done?
....down he goes and off to dry his hands
.....goes straight into the room
....climbs on the piano bench
...."Meeeeeeee......"
.....he can't understand why I am so slow!

There are marvellous things that he does everyday. It is true at this age, their capacity for learning is so quick and they are so willing to learn. They are growing so fast, becoming so independent yet they still LOVE cuddle time, story reading time, rolling around before bedtime, splashing in the tub, sitting on your lap talking to you, singing and dancing, playing hide and seek....and any simple activity that we do with them.

It is an amazing amazing age....this age of 21+ months.

Classic ladies of old(er) shows

Remember the movie "Mirror has 2 faces"? Heartwarming romance movie. Remembered the first time I watchd it was when I was in Australia. All 8 of us in the dorm sat in the common room and watched it together - 4 Aussies and 4 Malaysians.

Barbra Streisand (Julie Andrews, Audrey Hepburn) are all classic ladies whom I will always cherish. Shows the like of Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Hello Dolly...all musicals I wish for Christopher to see and love and sing along as well.

Looked up "I finally found someone", a duet by Barbra Streisand and Bryan Adams. It is the theme song for the show "Mirror has 2 faces".

Bryan Adams is a great singer....his death, maybe I will mourn. The hype over the weekend of MJ is really too much. Truth be told, MJ is a great singer but an eccentric guy...not really a fan.

Walking along the yellow brick road of movies brings me back to another movie that I loved when I was younger - "Pretty Woman". Love the fairytale romance. Love the casual defiance, self assuming attitude of Julia Roberts...yet managing still to capture the heart of Richard Gere. And in the end falling herself, with a kiss on the lips.

Thought and memory of the day.

OK folks...going back to my Barbra Streisand Youtube playlist. Remember to put on a song and sing it today. It sure cheers up a Monday morning.

Restoration of my beloved C.Steinbert

I can't recall my first piano lesson. I can't recall how I felt the first time I played the piano.

My first real recollection of the piano came when I was about 6 years. We had just returned from my daddy's friend's house and his daughter had played Oh Suzanna! for us (can't remember if it was by heart). And I remembered my daddy commenting that we cannot do that. Cannot play one decent piece on the piano for other people to hear. I remembered he mentioning it many times. I remembered I was furious. I then remember coming home and ransacking the pieces I had in search for Oh Suzanna! (I think) as well. And I practised and practised and practised. I practised so long that my mum told me to stop. That is sounded really nice already. I didn't stop. There were still mistakes. I still didn't know it by heart.

My parents must have learnt something about me that day. As for me....that day remains a one day thing.

But over the years, I did go from grade to grade under the ABRSM syllabus. And whenever we moved, our C. Steinbert followed us as well. To Kuching, Kuantan, Ipoh, KL and back to Ipoh.

The moves made our (can't say mine since my sister has a stake in it) piano really sick - externally. And becuase we were not really playing it since we completed our Grade 8, the internals have somewhat deteriorated as well.

So, why the ressurrection now?

Well, it was instigated by my son mainly. He loves musical instruments and has been at it for 5-6 months now. Also, I have a deep feeling of wanting to play again. Though I reckon my son's interest will supersede mine!

Now, to get the piano from Ipoh to KL, there were some things that I needed to do first. One was to find out the cost of restoring the piano and moving it versus buying a second hand one here. And two if the piano could withstand another move.

Moving a piano is a delicate business. It should always be done by a paino mover who is PRO in just moving pianos. General movers who have the 'expertise' don't count! A piano cannot be dragged at any cost.

I would say "Thank God" many times in this quest of mime. A few searches for people in KL allowed me to cross paths with a guy who could transport and perform a overhaul for my C.Steinbert. But he also advised me to get someone in Ipoh to look at it first to see if there were any unrepairable cracks.

Google searched and came across Syarikat Alat-alat Muzik Weng Lee. Mr David Hoe surprisngly was specialized in C. Steinbergs. In fact the only factory for C. Steinbergs IS IN Ipoh! Thank God!

If I had moved it over and got someone here to do the overhaul, they could have had to bring it back to David back in Ipoh anyway.....given the extent of repair work required for my C. Steinbert.

What surprised me was that when David saw the piano, he knew at once that my parents bought it from this particular shop in Penang and that the piano was 29 years old (all true, by the way). Impressive!

So, C. Steinbert has been with him now for about 1 and a half weeks. David emails me every other day on the progress of the repairs and calls me when important decision have to be made. I thank God that my C. Steinbert is in good hands. It is all tuned now and ready to come back to us.

It has set me back some RM3100 (minus tuning when it arrives) but given that our C.Steinbert is ALL European and nothing Japanese, he says and I agree that it is worth it. The quality of sound (and worth) is really different.

So....sometime next month, I will be busier than ever. Hope the neighbours don't complain.

By the way....for all of you who have (or plan to have) a piano, this website gives you alot of tips of what to buy, how to maintain, where to keep a piano.

Music and words are the 2 greatest passive active things in the world.

About blogging

This is a rant. A serious 'need to get it out of my chest' rant.

Since I started blogging...I realised two main things.

1) You can't blog daily about the little problems in your life even though all you want to do is to get it out of your chest. Coz no one wants to read daily on how bad you are doing or what is your latest problem. We all have problems too, so get on with life!
2) People have opinions and will leave it as a comment...no matter how it would make you feel or if it will spoil your day. After all, they don't really know you all that well, so how can you expect them to know what will make you upset. And well, you did write about it.

I know some who have private blogs to spill their beans...coz the only way for them to let it out really is by writing. And they sure knew earlier than me on the two points above.

I have this stand now...if I have nothing neutral, or nothing nice to say.....think hard and leave something neutral or nothing at all.

Wondering now if indeed the tongue is sharper.....after all isn't it harder being 'not nice' when the person can look you in the eye?

Cooking and feeding a 21 month old

Since Christopher started school, giving him a proper dinner has become my responsibility. Perviously at the babysitter, he already has a substantial bowl of porridge at 4+ pm followed by milk at 5+ pm and some biscuits. So by the time he gets back, I just need to give him some fruits and a little bit to eat, just so he can sit with us for dinner as well.

It helps that my boss has asked me to clear up some leave, my contract is fast expiring and my accummulated 49 days is facing the prospect of being burned away. So, I am on half day the rest of June.

Which leaves me with more time than ever to cook up 2-3 'fancy' dishes to suit my toddler's palate.

Yesterday though when I was peeling a potato to make some ABC soup, I peeled off a chunk of flesh of my second finger too! And becuase it was a chunk of flesh and not just skin, it bled profusely for a good 10 minutes. No more heavy cooking after which. It was simply impossible to do anything right with one injured, sore finger.

So, I did what I can with the carrot and the other potatoes, the tomato and onion and threw some mince inside as well. Originally I had wanted to marinate the mince and make meat balls with them....but...

Could it be that boyboy was not that hungry? Or that a 'simply' put together dish didn't sit right by him? Or could it be due to the lack of rice, being replaced by potatoes?

He was so uncooperative during dinner. 20% food was on the floor, 60% went into his mouth (given) and 20% went into the fridge.

And the funny thing about it all was that each time I 'screamed' at the mess he just made, he would look at me, be good for like 4 seconds and then do it all over again.

When I screamed for him to pay attention to what he was doing with his fork, he stopped, looked at me and the next few bites actually went neatly from his plate into his mouth.

Hubby came back half way to see a mad woman and a bewildred son! hahaha....

Told hubby....I think I am losing it. Not 10 minutes into eating, and I am already yelling at him at the top of my voice!

The thing is that in between bites, this son of mine wants to find something to do with the cutlery. He doesnt want to let it go....so he ends up moving it around the plate shoving everything everywhere. So....does that mean I got to make the food such that he doesn't have to bite that long?

Bet your kid doesn't create such a mess during meals. I have to wipe the floor, change his clothing and give him a bathe after every messy meal.

But there are good days, rare but it exists. I have to give him that. He can do it well if he wants to. When mischief is far from his mind.

Fathers' Day @ LYJ Sungai Buloh

Directions : Take the NKVE to Sungai Buloh. Upon exiting the Sungai Buloh toll plaza, take the extreme left lane to make a U turn to the main road (going away from Kepong/PJ). Continue to keep on the left lane. You will pass under the NKVE again. And after this, you will need to turn off (the most left lane) heading towards Shah Alam. As soon as you enter the 4 lane main stream of traffic, make your way to the far right. You will need to make a right turn at the first traffic lights in front. Go straight until you see Jalan Perkhidmatan on your left. Turn and head on straight. You will see single storey shops on your left. Soon you will see LYJ which is situated opposite a Chinese School. There are 2 shops bearing LYJ. Go to the middle one to ask for your table number. YOU HAVE TO BOOK TO EAT IN THIS PLACE. And best reach there by 6.30 to avoid irritation! :)

OK....now that you know how to get there. Let's get down to business.

This is worth trying - ginseng soup served in a claypot and clay teacups. There is even meat inside which is very tasty....good for the kids.

Pre-ordering required unless you are super early!

Sabah Paku - served cold with a tinge of sourness. Heavenly!

Pre-order to avoid disappointment, sometimes they run out!

Lala (clams) with bittergourd. Ate this when I brought my parents there. As you can see, my whole family loves bittergourd. Tastes good!

Tofu - as recommeded. Don't know what they called it. But the gravy was sooooo good that I ate everything with it. Right amount of saltiness and flavour!

Your usual fare of fish? NO !!! THis was steamde with pork mince and 'tung choy' (preserved cabbage). Salty, sweet and the fish was sooooooo fresh and sweet!

Duck. Had better. Don't order this! :)

So...this was what we ordered the first time we went there with my parents. Total bill RM98. We were raving becuase the taste was out of this world and cheap too!

My second time there with my inlaws was something else. The total bill came up to RM 250. Mainly due to these 2 dishes.

Glutinous rice stuffed in a chicken. It costs us RM68 and although the rice was really tasty, not overly sticky or oily the way glutinous rice sometmes is and the novelty of it was really interesting.....but at RM68? What happened to the chicken meat too? The rice was stuffed between the meat and the skin and then the whole thing was fried. It will be a one time only for me - this dish. But well.....first time there, it is really different. Pre-ordering REALLY required.

The Treasure Pot was also expensive at RM45. Not worth it. The reason it was expensive was due to the bountiful of cuttlefish, clams, prawns etc. But the taste was pretty normal.

Well....I got to end on a high note. The last 2 dishes I tried were both good although the pork with mantau (steamed Chinese buns) was a bit too fatty for my liking. But the steamed chicken was really good - becuase of the minced ginger it came with!

It has (only) been 1 week

Everyday when I pick Christopher up from nursery, the principal gives me an update on how he has been.

And so.....yes....they are still trying to figure out what makes him so upset.

I was told yesterday that when the parents came to pick up the kids at 12+ (kids not joining day care), he started crying and pointing towards the gate.
He wants to go home too.

And it would seem that my son is quite the loner. He doesn't seem to like big crowds and the heightened noise level. Not that he is intimidated by them....he just doesn't like them. Well, I shouldnt be surprised considering he pulls me to get out of Sunday School even. But with a little coaxing to play with his friends he usually manages to stay.

I am not 'weakened' by these 'negative' reports I am hearing. In fact I find it interesting to know my son's character better and how I can help him adjust. Perhaps he is an introvert like me. I hate big crowds too and would seek only 1/2 persons to talk to in a party.

BUT....on the high note, Christopher is pouring out 2-3 word sentences to me at amazing speed. I am not sure if he has picked it up from there or that it was in his brain all this while. I am not sure if it is becuase he is at this age of wanting to learn badly and learning so quickly. But.....

"Eat. eat" (instead of mummm,mummm)
"Sit here. Eat"
"Fall...pain pain" (instead of "pom" and action of hand knocking his head)

And some he has been throwing at me for a loooonnnnngggg while now:
"What is this?"
"I want this."

I am glad Christopher is in school. I don't think adjusting will be a long term issue. It is something he will have to learn to deal with sooner or later. And I think he is NOT too young to learn now.

But then, I come from a school of hard-knocks. The harder something is, the harder I will attempt a go at it. Of course, both of us are working full time without our parents to help.....so we really don't have a choice either.

School has been a mad rush

Since toddler C has started nursery, it has been a mad rush for me. Right now it is not that bad given it is still daylight saving. So, that gives me ONE whole hour extra. I am wondering how I will do it when November comes.

So, my day so far has been....

Up at 5 am to cut and wash what I can for tonight's dinner. Bring out the meat/fish to the fridge to defrost.

Leave for work at 6 am.

The most relaxing time I have is from 6am - 3 pm. Yes, I finish work at 3 during daylight saving time and 4 pm for the other 6 months of the year.

2.59 pm, I shut down my laptop! Leave at 3 pm on the dot.

Drive as fast as I can home using the shortest route possible. 20 minutes. 3.20 pm.

I try to put in 30 minutes of exercise. But have to alternate this with house cleaning now. 4 pm.

Cook. Wash up all the pots. Clean the kitchen floor and walls. 4.30 pm.

Bathe, rest a while and take a little bite. Leave the house to pick up boyboy. 5 pm.

Reach home and let him play outside for a while. 5.30 pm.

Give him his dinner, followed by fruits, followed by some other desert of his choosing, followed by some more biscuits! He can really eat, I tell you! 6.30 pm.

Hubby is back! GREAT!!!!

Wash up and wipe the floor where boyboy was sitting and eating and messing everything up! 7.15 pm.

Get hubby's dinner ready. Take boyboy up for his bath. 7.40 pm.

Watch some TV (snatches). Read to boyboy. Teach him a bit. 9 pm.

Time for milk. Hubby brings boyboy up to bed. 9.10 pm

Iron clothes (more becuase of boyboy's uniform!!! but since I am at it....). 9.40 pm.

Bath (again) and pray, talk to boyboy till I get sleepy myself. Or if boyboy is already in bed, catch up on my reading. 10.30 pm.

If I am lucky, boyboy's talking/screaming in his sleep, hubby's snoring or my growling tummy will not wake me.

And then the new day starts again.

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Boyboy is eating alot these days. It's like a never ending process of feeding! And I have to come up with dishes that he can poke himself on one side, and his rice with soup on the other side. AND I am sooooo running out of ideas!!!! What more have to be yummy!

Monday took leave from the kitchen.
Tuesday was carrots and potatoes and fish.
Wednesday was fishballs and celery.
Today will be omellete, rice pancake.

Can make small meat balls next week.
Any other ideas?

FIrst day at school

Given this is my weekend post, actually LOADS happened. But nothing as significant as this.


Christopher's first day at nursery. The start of his next 5 years of his life.

He woke up surprisingly late on Monday. In fact I had to wake him up by 8 am. Well, what can be expected after 3 long weeks of not having to follow daddy's hours!

Chucked his milk bottle at him becuase I was 'desperate' for him to have some breakfast before I send him off to school. Christopher is hardly a morning breakfast person. His stomach like daddy's wakes up like 1 hour later.

Thank God he drank majority of it up.

No poop yet? hmmm.....

Got him washed up and dressed up.

He was actually pretty proud of his uniform. In fact he looked down at it and smoothed it all up and even stodd quietly for me to take some photos.

When we reached there, he looked amazed at all the little people wearing the same thing he was! And when the prinicipal stretched out her arms to him, he went willingly. Wah....good boy!

But the minute I mentioned that we will pick him up at 4+, he started to sense something was amiss. He cried and wanted to come back to me.

We were literally shoooed away. And I heard his cries as we left.

(sigh)

We picked him up at 5 instead. Wanting to regulate his hours there better.

The report was good.

Of course he cired and of course he kept pointing towards the gate and of course he called for us.........but after a while he was alright. Distracted.

After assembly, all the other students walked up hand in hand. But boyboy being the youngest, the teacher didn't dare let him walk up with the rest unattended. So, she cleared up and was going to carry him up.

But when he saw everyone going up, he started crying again pointing up the stairs this time. I reckon the teacher/principal is a reassuring person who talks to the kids frequently.

He played and ate like all the rest. But come 11+, he started to get sleepy and thus grouchy. Thank God the principal rememebrs I telling her about his timing being off.....so she brought him down to sleep.

Thank God that even though they have school hours, they can still be flexible enough with the young. That was my main concern before and now I know they can manage until he gets used to the school hours. I can imagine it is not easy to deal with just one kid who violates the school hour. Coz then one of the teachers/assistant has to come down to watch my son....sleep!

Other things the teacher said....

He drinks his milk so slowly.

I think he will be weaning off milk soon.

He eats so much. One whole big bowl of rice.

He could eat well, because he took his nap before lunch.

He knows his alphabets already. We were all surprised.

I am soooo proud of him that he knows his alphabets. All my teaching not gone to waste. And I never really tested him before.

He wets his whole nappy and he won't even tell you!

And toilet training can wait until he is ready. Now, in the afternoon, he goes diaper free. He will wear a nappy with nappy protector and pants. Seems alot of layers....but reckon boyboy will never walk aronud with just the nappy protector! And I didn't know a nappy can contain so much liquid. He was wearing that from early evening till 7 pm and it didn't even leak!

So, I am back to work today. No reason to extend my leave further.

Christopher will do really well in school. I am sure of it. Thank God.

Checklist for 'School'

Christopher is starting school.....well, nursery (at his age) next week.

It is hard for me and yet easy.

Hard in that he will be the youngest child in the school that comprises of kids up till 6 years old.
Hard in that I am concerned if he will be able to regulate his eating and sleeping with school hours.

But I know the #2 hard point will soon be alright. Kids adapt easier.

But it will also be easy given I have been sending him (actually hubby drops him) to childcares since he was 4 months.
Easy in that I think he will like exploring things in school and playing at the playground.
Easy in that he already has 2 friends there from my previous babysitter anyway.

So, in preparation for his nursery....
School uniform - check
Sports outfit - check
Water bottle - check
Little school bag - check
Training pants - check
Nappies and nappy covers - check
Clothing 10 sets - check
Baby wash/shampoo - check

Have I missed anything?
By the way....I heard J&J's No Tears shampoo is not as 'no tears' as they claim it to be.....is it true?

Melancholic

Melancholic...that's me.

It is never far from me.

Hubby and boyboy chase it away once in a while.
But when I put on a piano piece, turn it up real loud and sit back and relax....

Melancholy has a way of finding me.

Of course, I am at work or alone when it catches up with me.

Boyboy gives me NO TIME to ever sit back.
He is at the age of discovery now.
Discovering that mummy has a booming voice and killer eyes whenever he misbehaves.
Discovering that it works better for him when he listens to mummy and follows instructions.
Discovering that he can use the fork to push food in his spoon.
Discovering that TV is quite interesting for him too.
Discovering that when he is done with eating, there are better things to do than to mess up the place and make mummy angry.

He is growing up. Melancholy has found me again.

The Exchange

I was not there when the exchange happened.

Something happened that prevented me from witnessing it.

It didn't actually mean much to me. There was no feelings of expectation, anxiousness or regret.

Well....maybe a slight tinge of regret. After all. the next 5 years of my life was going to change forever.

So, when hubby came back with it...in the middle of my dinner, what more, I didn't hurry out to welcome it (or him).

It didn't help of course that boyboy was clamouring all over me wanting a few more bites of my spaghetti as well.

But eventually I decided I should show some enthusiasm towards it and get to know it better. Boyboy didn't agree to this diversion of attention.

WSR 820 did not look as impressive in my car porch. It looked better on the road when I could see its medallion grey on the move, like a knight. When I was inside, really, the colour does not make much difference.

I mean...it was still just a it!

Now, there are many 'small' things I pray for. Like this number that came with it. No...I didn't pay for the number. I just prayed for it.

But hubby's prayer in this matter was slightly different. He said when we were about to sleep that he felt really sad when ADN 2516 left him standing there alone with WSR 820. He prayed that ADN 2516 would find a good owner who would take care of 'him'.

I was surprised, he didn't call it a 'her'. I thought all cars were guys' mistresses? :) But maybe this car was mine, that is why.

When he said that, it really made me realise.

ADN2516 has indeed served me really well. And I had not done my part in taking really good care of it. And I had no feelings whatsoever too when he left.

I can imagine how hubby felt. Watching ADN2516 turn round the corner, departing from our lives forever.

He is somewhere in Ampang now. I hope he will be beautified and someone warm will take care of him for the rest of his life.

Now....WSR 820....he is the new visitor in our lives....one which requires a monthly allowance for the next 5 years. I hope he (I might as well call 'it' a 'he') will enjoy his stay with us and also serve the family well. I should treat him better than I treated my ex. They do deserve more, don't they!

Is a car really just a car and just a car?

Shouts and shots at the park

Look at him! Having fun!

Running up and down the slopes.

Taking himself as fast as his little legs can manage the stride.

Away from me, towards me, beside me.

Into the pot holes, into the shallow drain,

And into the man-made hole around the plant.

Pretending to fall

Just for an excuse to roll around!

Aaahhhh....what joy that they can run around unhibited.

Where barriers that block them are not trolleys and people.

In a rush, in a rush, on their way somewhere.

He loves his slides.

A genuine reason to go on his fours and start climbing!

And what delight, hear that squeal,

When down the slide he comes.

"Mummmmyyyy.....catch me please!"

"Mummmyyyy......can I go again?"

His hands get dirty, his clothes are stained.

But it is alright.

Nothing can be quite as satisfying

as seeing your son grin ear to ear from playing.

Shoo-ing the birds! Shoo-ing the monkeys!

Shoo-ing some people too!

"Can I play with you?"

"Can I chase you around?"

"Can we come again...mummy, can we come again."

Note : His first visit to the park went well.

His grandfather was more tired than him.